Chance's Weekend Update: 02/10/2008

"If you tell the truth, make them laugh, or they'll kill you."

George Bernard Shaw

Overall this past week was a pretty good one. I had heard a weather stat that for the Month of February up through this last Friday morning we have only had 11 minutes of sunshine...then pretty much immediately after I heard that the sun came out for the rest of the day and pretty much kept on shining up to the point that the temperature plummeted back down to the now normal subzero range. Anyways, I would love to chat, but I have some real homework to wrap up...so Happy Monday, and enjoy the update.

Some things that don't suck:

Writer's Strike Over!!!, Finally the funny people on TV wont have to work so hard to be funny anymore, their writers will be back in the office by Wednesday to do their work for them. AND...all of our favorite TV shows will be back to full strength, so we can stop watching all of this reality junk.

Cockroaches and The GameBoy are apparently the only things that will survive a nuclear fallout according to this CNET review of the most robust gadgets ever developed. To add a personal anecdote to this, just months after I got my GAME BOY for Christmas, my little sister "accidentally" dropped it into a pan of hot oil that we were literally using to make fried bread dough--and the only trace of the incident is the label on the battery cover being slightly melted. As recently as this past fall my GameBoy is still working like the day I got it...unlike my cell phone which has a battery which needs "trained" to reach its full charge potential.


Buying a car without getting screwed is something that I have been thinking about since I started running with a car salesman a couple of year ago--who loves to talk about how bad he screws people. This video offers some useful strategy tips to shake their game up, and hopefully leave us with a great deal on a new ride.

Free Money (more like a graduation present from Congress) If you haven't heard yet, in hopes of holding off or shortening the upcoming recession, Congress passed an "economic stimulus plan" which is a check for $600 ($1200 for married couples) who had an AGI under $75,000 (combined $150,000). This one has been up for debate for some time, but after all of the recent democratic momentum in the polls, republican opposition all of a sudden had a change of heart--maybe a couple of billion dollars is enough to buy a few votes. This move could be a little late as checks aren't expected to hit the post office until May...but I am not complaining, there is nothing I like more than surprise checks in the mail.

Shakespeare bust with hidden switch. This is definitely one of the coolest things that I have EVER come across. The only thing cooler than having this in your house would be if it actually spun the fireplace around to give you access to the Bat Cave, just like it does for Bruce Wayne.

Motor-less Submarine still going, (for nearly 2 months now) by repeatedly sinking to cool off and then surfacing to heat up, this sub uses the roughly 40 degree difference in water temperature between the surface and the depths of the ocean to generate its energy. A device like this is silent and a perfect housing for sensitive scientific instruments used to study the ocean.

An Art Heist, Just like the Ninja Bandit a couple of weeks ago--I do not support crime--but I think this one could be Ocean's 14 or something sweet like that...But seriously, I really didn't think that things like this really happened anymore with all the technology guarding this stuff. But I guess instead of being sneaky about it, these guys just walked right in with a gun and walked out with an estimated $163 million dollars worth of art. Not bad for an afternoon's work. I am sure that the security guard who lost his job to a couple of cameras and a laser pointer is getting the last laugh now...

Some things that do:

I lost my cell phone. That pretty much tops my list, so if you need to get in touch with me email is pretty much the only option unless you leave a message with my secretary...Katie.

No more Polariods, It is a sad day in the world of instant photography. Even though the Polaroid company stopped making their cameras over a year ago and nobody noticed...it is still somewhat unsettling that they will no longer be producing their instant film. We are entering a new era...gone are the days when you can snap a picture with friends and view it moments later....wait never mind, we all have digital cameras--sorry Polaroid.

UnderArmour Shoes, if you missed the "hitleresque" Super Bowl commercial for these sure to be piece-of-garbage-shoes...don't worry, all you are missing is the sneak peak at what nearly every freshman in high school will be begging for next fall. Very similar to the phenomenon where these high school kids regularly pass by the more reasonable priced and longer lasting Nike Pro long sleeves for the standard "under armour."

Being thrown over 300 ft by a tornado and living to tell about would be crazy...especially for an 11-month old baby! While searching a town torn apart by a tornado this past week, a firefighter thought he was just passing a baby doll...and then it moved. Kyson Stowell was a little cold and had a minor cut, but other than that was completely unharmed. This certainly isn't a positive story though, 56 people were killed in the storm, including the infants mother.

DeBeers, Famous for coining the phrase "A Diamond is Forever"...and for buying up nearly every one of these shiny rocks that comes out of the ground, holding them in storage, and then driving the price through the roof with the artificial scarcity they created--has finally gotten itself into trouble. If you have made any type of diamond purchase in the past 14 years or so, follow this link to register and you could get your share of the 165 Million dollar settlement.


Until Next time,
-Chance Kelch